Improvement in corpse-preserving coffins



duidt tatta aan effet,

Letters Patent No. 110,337, dated December 20, 1870.

.IMPROVEMENT IN CORPSE-PRESERVING COFFINS.

The Schedule' referred to in these Letters Patentan. making part of thesame.

To dll l'tv lwm it may concern :g

Be Yit 'known that IVJAMES Y.BLAGK, of Cleveland, incounty of Cuyahogaand State of Ohio,

have invented a certain new and improved Godin for I Preserving DeadBodies; and `IA do hereby 'declarc that the following is a full, clear,and complete deseription of the same, reference being had .to the acfcompanying drawing making part of this specification,

in which.-

Figure -1 is a perspective vie'w of the coffin orcase.

Figure 2 is an' inside view from the top. -Figure is an under-side view'of the cover.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section in direction of the line zw.

FigureA is a transverse sectiouin direction of the line'zw'.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the severalviews.

The nature of this invention relates to a device for the preservation ofhuman bodies for a time previous to their final interment, the objectthereof being to keep said bodies in such condition that they may besent from a distance for burial, or he continued unburied until lthearrival of distantfriends of the de ceased; and

It consists in forming an ice-chamber around the v body-receptacle,which chamber is open at both sidesV at the top, and covered with arubber. gasket attached to the edge of the cover, the latter having aspace for antiseptics, and a lining of' some fibrous mategv The deviceabove referred to isfconstructed in the following manner:

In lig.1- Y v j A represents an oblong square case, somewhat exneedingin length the stature of ahuman being, with a depth and widthproportionate thereto.

Said case is constructed of wood and lined with' sheet metal, B, fig. 5,between which and the sides of the case isa space, D; -so also betweenthe lining of the ends and `the ends of the case is a js'pace, D; and soalso between the bottom of the lining and case,

f thereby forming au air-space or chamber around between Y the entireinside of the ease and lining, as shown in ligs. 4 and 5.

Within "said case is arranged a casket, E, iig.' 2, in which the body isplaced for preservation.

It will be observed that said casket is so construct'ed vand arrangedwithin thev'case that it does not tonchthe sides and bottom thereof, butthat there is a wide space, F, between them, as shown in iig. 5, thepurpose of which will presently he shown.

G, fig. 1, is the cover ot the case, which is also lined, not withsheet`meta'l, but with some textilefab-- ric, H, iig. 4, Vbetween whichand the top of the cover is a space, I, communicating with the outsideby means of apertures J.

The practical operation of this device is as follows:

As aforesaid, the body is laid inthe casket E. This being done, thespace F immediately surrounding the ycasketis then filled with afreezing mixture of ice and salt, or with ice only, as the temperatureof the weather' I may determine.

The cold air from the ice-chamber is -prevented from coming in contactwith the corpse by the casket being air-tight where it comes against theice-chamber.

The space l of the cover, on beingiilled with some antisepticagent,thetop plate of which may be taken voft' for that purpose, is nowsecured tothe case. A gasket, K,'is placed between it and the edge ofthecase, thereby making an air-tight joint.

The body thus incased and surrounded by the freez- ,ing mixture is soonfrozen solid, thereby arresting its further decompositiomand which canbe preserved in this condition as long as may be nccessary'for thepurpose required.

The water from the ice, as it may melt away, iows from thecase" throughthe c duction-ppe L, and all moisture willbecarried oli through thevents J, or

'absorbedbytheli'ni-ng H, or the contents of the' cover. n

In thiscondition of the body it can be transported vwith'safety'rom and,to any distant place for inteiruent,and,shou1d the freezing mixturebecome wasted While"in"'tta tnsit, it can easily and conveniently berev"placed by 'alti-csh supply, and thus continue the preservation ofthe body so long as may be desired, `which is then removed from the casefor its final interment.

Claim.

What I claim as myimprovement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

'lhe case "A, containing the air-chamber D, icc-

